Country Roads(83)

Julia made a moue of disbelief. “I think I’d better take some lessons before you turn me loose again.” She patted Darkside’s shoulder. “I got a little ahead of myself.”

“Maybe. You want to take another turn around on the lead line?”

Julia nodded. “If you don’t mind. It’s so amazing to me that I’m sitting on a great, big horse and not—” She stopped herself just before she said having a seizure.

“Not what?” Sharon asked.

“Er, not terrified.” Julia’s heart squeezed at the near miss.

“Well, it’s downright sensible to be terrified of Darkside, but there’s no reason to be afraid of most horses. I can put you up on a nice quiet ride for your next lesson.”

“No, I need to ride my whisper horse,” Julia said. She had so little time left with him.

“Lord knows he can use the exercise and the socialization. I don’t think I’ll be putting any of my other lessons up on him, though.”

Sharon led them once more around the paddock before Julia felt too guilty about pulling her away from her busy day and asked to stop.

She swung her right leg back over the saddle and braced her body weight on her arms as she kicked her left foot out of the stirrup. George caught her around the waist and helped ease her downward to the faraway ground, where her knees promptly collapsed under her.

“Happens all the time,” the groom said, grabbing her elbow to support her. “You ain’t used those muscles for riding before.”

“I wasn’t on the horse for that long,” Julia said, feeling her blush go atomic. She knew it was mostly the aftermath of sheer nerves. “I feel like such a wimp.”

Sharon chuckled. “George, I guess you’re going to have to handle the tack.”

Julia wobbled over to the fence and braced herself on it. She gave him an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry to add to your work.”

“Happy to do it after seeing the devil horse walking around as quiet as a lead pony at the track,” the groom said, already running the stirrups up their leathers.

Julia’s knees had gone from jelly to rubber, so she pushed off the fence and managed to stagger through the gate Sharon had opened. As she came out into the open space behind the barn, several hands nodded to her. She nodded back.

A young man carrying a water bucket walked past her and said, “Nice job, ma’am.”

Paul’s friend Lynnie came up and shook her hand. “You got a way with horses.”

“Just the one,” Julia said. “He’s my whisper horse.”

“So Sharon’s got you believing that stuff.” Lynnie walked away, shaking her head.

“Not me,” Sharon said. “Darkside’s got her believing it.”





Chapter 23




ERIC’S MAMA IS on line one,” Verna announced through the intercom.

Terri only called if there was a problem, so Paul fought down a touch of worry as he excused himself to the client sitting in front of his desk. He picked up the receiver and walked over to the window, lowering his voice. “Is everything all right with Eric?”

“Eric’s fine, but his babysitter’s sick, so I need someone to pick him up from school and keep him until I get home from work. Jimmy’s on a job where there’s no cell phone reception, so I figured I’d give you a try.”

He glanced at his watch. He had twenty minutes before he’d have to leave. “Sure, I’ll take care of it.”

An idea was forming in Paul’s mind, bringing a smile with it. “Call my cell before you come to pick him up. I might be taking him to visit a friend of mine.”

“You’re a good uncle.”

“You’re a good mother.” He meant it.

Paul hung up and came back to the desk to fill Verna in. He’d been called on for last-minute Eric duty before and usually brought his nephew back to the office. Verna loved having a youngster to spoil. He wrapped up his appointment right on time and headed out the door.

Parking across from the school, he leaned against the Corvette until he saw Eric race out the school’s front door. He crossed the street and planted himself in the flow of kids.

“Uncle Paul! Did you bring the ’Vette?” Eric’s small face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Can you drive by the school so I can wave to all my friends?”

“Nice to see you too, and Gina has the flu but she should be fine in a few days,” Paul said, giving his nephew a head noogie to further muss his unruly brown hair.

Eric shrugged. “You didn’t look all serious, so I figured nothing really bad had happened to Gina.”

“It’s still polite to pretend to care.”